It is common in ice fishing to provide, adjacent a hole cut through the ice surface, a support on which a fishing rod is positioned. It is also common to provide, on such support, an indicator, such as a flag, which is actuated when the bait has been hooked in order to draw the fisherman's attention.
The use of signaling flags, in combination with fishing rigs, is known in the art; for example, U.S. Pat. No(s). 3,824,730 issued July 23, 1974 to Johnson and 4,373,287 issued Feb. 15, 1983 to Grahl describe fishing rod holders of the type having a signaling means to indicate a pull on the line. However, none of these devices uses the line for directly triggering the mechanism that holds the flag. Obviously, a pull exerted by a fish is first sensed by the fishing line and, consequently, triggering mechanisms ought to be actuated as soon as the line is tugged.
In some fishing rigs, the flag is raised only when the fishing rod has gone from a tip-up to a tip-down position adjacent the hole in the ice surface.
It has also been observed, in other fishing rigs that a pull by a fish not only causes the pivotal movement of the fishing rod, but also of the entire rig including its supporting base. In cases where the ice hole is relatively large, the entire fishing rig may be lost through the hole.